{
  "id": 12786148,
  "title": "Asian currencies rangebound as dollar holds near 18-month high, yen slips",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/asian-currencies-rangebound-as-dollar-holds-near-18-month-high-yen",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-08T04:01:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Investing.com",
    "slug": "investing-com",
    "url": "https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/asian-currencies-rangebound-as-dollar-holds-near-18month-high-yen-slips-4937859"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Asian currencies displayed a generally narrow range on Thursday, with the U.S. dollar edging close to a 18-month high, while the Japanese yen faced pressure as market participants considered hawkish Federal Reserve minutes and fresh economic data from Japan. The U.S. dollar index hovered around 102.24, showing minimal movement after a 0.3% gain on Wednesday, and stayed near its highest level since April 2025. The USD/JPY pair was trading around 158.15, up 0.05%, whereas the AUD/USD pair slipped 0.1% to $0.6957, and the NZD/USD pair declined 0.2% to $0.5603. In the minutes released after the Fed's September meeting, policymakers underscored inflation as the primary risk to the U.S. outlook, though disagreements emerged over the rationale behind the recent quarter-point rate hike. Markets were pricing a 19% chance of a 25-basis-point increase at the Oct. 28 meeting, unchanged from the previous day. DBS highlighted that the minutes reinforced expectations for a pause in rate hikes in October, followed by a potential hike in December. However, this could be tempered by the fact that WTI oil prices have not returned to their April peak, with gasoline prices moving closer to their 2026 high and diesel hitting new highs due to tight distillate supplies. This may weaken the dollar's support from higher rates. Despite the current account surplus reaching ¥4.062 trillion in August, surpassing the ¥3.19 trillion forecast, the yen remained weak after recent BOJ signals indicated ongoing divisions among policymakers regarding the timing of additional rate increases. The USD/INR pair climbed 0.2% to 96.987, nearing a recent record low as the RBI increased its repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% during its latest meeting, expressing a more hawkish stance. The vulnerability of the rupee to the stronger dollar, higher U.S. yields, and oil prices above $100 a barrel suggests external factors continue to have a more significant impact on the currency. Chinese financial markets reopened following the week-long National Day holiday, with the USD/CNH pair marginally up and the USD/CNY pair slightly down.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}